Talk:Yu Shan

How High Is Yu Shan in Taiwan?
Posted on WP:RD: My Webster's Geographical Dictionary gives Yu Shan's height at 13,113 feet (3,997 meters) when the article Jade Mountain says it is 12,962 feet (3,952 meters). Anyone clarify? PedanticallySpeaking 18:53, Oct 23, 2004 (UTC) Two replies posted there:
 * Britannica (2002) says 13,113 feet also. Incidentally, they spell it with an umlaut over the u. - John Fader
 * Although both the Chinese and Japanese wikipedias say 3952m. Maybe one number is a result of a re-survey? - John Fader

Posted on WP:RD:
 * I went through my books and found many disagreeing answers. The following sources had these listed for its height:
 * Columbia Encyclopedia, 1st ed. (1940), "over 14,000 feet" in the article "Niitakayama"
 * Colubmia Encyclopedia, 1st ed. (1940), "about 14,000 feet" in the article "Mount Morrison"
 * Brittanica (1941): 12,939 feet in the atlas
 * Brittanica (1941): 14,720 feet in the article "Formosa" (v. 9, p. 514)
 * Webster's New Int'l Dict., 2d ed. (1957): 13,599 feet
 * New Catholic Encyclopedia: 13,599 feet (v. 13, p. 916)
 * Brittanica (1974): 3997 meters
 * Hammond World Atlas (1989): 3997 meters/13,113 feet
 * Times Atlas, 8th ed. (1990): 3997 meters
 * National Geographic Atlas, 7th ed. (1990): 3997 meters
 * Columbia Encyclopedia, 5th ed. (1993): 3997 meters/13,113 feet
 * Whitaker's Almanac (1996): 13,035 feet

Finally, the official Central Geological Survey of Taiwan's site (here) says 3952 meters, which is what the original article says and the Taiwanese should know. But isn't remarkable the range of these answers, varying by 1,700 feet? PedanticallySpeaking 14:34, Oct 26, 2004 (UTC)


 * I remember reading in a Taiwanese newspaper a decade ago that the Jade Mt is getting shorten because its peak is melting/crumbling, or something.......I cannot remember why or any details at all. --Menchi 00:49, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * The Columbia Encylc has separate articles on Mt Morrison and Niitakayama? Aren't they the same thing? --Menchi 00:51, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Climb Every Mountain
Posted on User talk:Menchi: Salve, Menchi! I saw your comment on the height of Jade Mountain re the Columbia Encyclopedia. "Niitakayama" and "Mount Morrison]] are the same thing as Yu Shan and the book does indeed have articles at both names for the mountain rather than a cross-reference. Another example of how you need to look every place information could be and not assume the editors and indexers know what they're doing.  Ave!  PedanticallySpeaking 15:29, Oct 30, 2004 (UTC)

山: 'Yama' or 'San'?
"Japanese called the mountain Niitakayama (新高山)" I was under the impression, after reading the page on Mt Fuji, that the appellation 'yama' was an old incorrect translation that refuses to die. Edit? Mang 10:05, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
 * This is the case for "Fujiyama" (should be "Fujisan"), but not necessarily for all other mountains. Bubbha 17:36, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I think the history of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is significant evidence that "Niitakayama" was correct. The Japanese would hardly have used the wrong name for what was (at the time) their highest mountain. Jsc1973 (talk) 20:01, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

Name of article
I'm wondering why this article is named "Jade Mountain", when AFAIK that name (i.e. the translation of Yu Shan into English) is not used by English-language sources. I have always seen it as "Yu Shan" or "Yü Shan". So unless there is some good reason for having it under "Jade Mountain", I would propose a move. -- Spireguy 19:44, 23 June 2007 (UTC)


 * yeah go ahead and use the more common term . Blueshirts 18:12, 25 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I moved the page, to "Yu Shan." Let me know if anyone thinks it should be "Yü Shan" or "Yu Shan (Taiwan)" or something else. -- Spireguy 21:20, 26 June 2007 (UTC)


 * On the chinese wiki it says Yu Shan is part of the Yu Shan mountain range, not Central mountain range. Blueshirts 06:19, 27 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Can someone comment on whether it has to be "Yushan" or "Yu Shan"? According to http://pinyin.info/news/2008/hanyu-pinyin-and-proper-nouns/ -> PDF -> section 2.2 it should be written separately. So why is the page title in one word? --JensMueller (talk) 18:34, 8 June 2009 (UTC)


 * It should be Yu Shan because it is two separate words, but I object to some of the wording in the intro to this article. It is sloppy and very opinionated.  I will propose a rewrite in a few days and post it here for feedback.  ludahai 魯大海 (talk) 10:15, 2 August 2010 (UTC)


 * It should be Yushan because it is a single name (as Huangshan, Donghai, or the first page of your source) and it's become standard to only break off the parts of names if they get longer than two or three characters (Taiping Yang, Shanghai Shi, Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo) or are so famous that the parts make sense to English speakers as separate words (Chang Jiang, Qin Shi Huang).


 * Your source looks like it's just some people opining. For example, afaik, the absolutely proper form of official pinyin should be "Yu shan" ("Shanghai shi", "Zhonghua renmin gongheguo", &c.) because the people making the rules preferred French to English style capitalization; almost no English-language sources use pinyin that way. Your source would make it "Yu Shan", but on what authority? If it is an official government source for proper, official, and newly revised pinyin (which Pinyin's article doesn't support), you can take it over to WP:MOS-ZH and talk them into making it formal Wikipedia style policy. Minor points like this, Wikipedia can drive change in other people's understanding and use. — Llywelyn II   07:33, 21 March 2019 (UTC)

Sources for future article expansion
More about the mountain's names and history at the Taiwan Today source for the Mt Morrison info. — Llywelyn II   06:07, 21 March 2019 (UTC)

Historical Names and Heights
Suggesting to add statements before "Under the Qing Dynasty...":

Yu Shan (Patungkuonʉ in Tsou, and Usavi, Usaviah, or Tongku Saveq in Bunun, meaning "jade mountain" or "the highest mountain" in the languages).

The earliest known written description of the mountain as 'Yu Shan' (Hanzi: "", meaning "jade mountain") was in Taiwanfoo Chorography (Jiang edition) (zh:台灣府志 [ 蔣志 ]) in 1685 and Diary of Searching Sulfur (zh:%E8%A3%A8%E6%B5%B7%E7%B4%80%E9%81%8A) in 1697.

In the article section "Names" the statement "It was previously known in English as Mount Morrison,[3] a name sometimes mistakenly thought to honor the missionary Robert Morrison, but actually simply the name of an American captain who sighted it..." In section "History" the statement "Under the Qing Dynasty, W. Morrison, captain of the American steam freighter Alexander, sighted the mountain while departing from Anping Harbor (present-day Anping, Tainan) in 1857. His log was the first western mention of the mountain, which took his name in European accounts."

During the later half of 19th century, in his book of the expedition to Formosa in 1873-1874, Prof Joseph Beal Steere stated that the Westerners named the highest mountain in Formosa "Mount Morrison" to honor the well-known missionary Rev Robert Morrison. In his well-known books about Taiwan "Formosa under the Dutch" published in 1903, and "Sketches from Formosa" published in 1915, Rev Dr William Campbell stated that stating Mount Morrison was not named after the well-known pioneer missionary of that name was a mistake.

The word "mistakenly" in the article is suggested to be removed. It was recorded in Taiwan Christianity Church Journal (Presbyterian Church) that the name Mt Morrison was to honor Rev Robert Morrison by British Royal Navy Admiral Sir Richard Collinson in 1844.

Other source stated that it was named after himself by Alexander Morrison, the agent in Kaohsiung and Taiwan Prefecture branch of Jardine, Matheson & Co in 1859-1864.

Any stories later than 1845 contradict to known physical evidences. Early 19th century stories of western skippers of vessels trading to Formosa, where was not yet opened for trading, were very unlikely, until the time of the first foreign traders to Formosa with an under-table exclusive personal deal between some American merchants and Taiwan Circuit (zh:台灣道) Intendant (Tao-tai or Dao-tai, Hanzi: zh:道台) Yu Duo (zh:裕鐸) on June 27 1855, and Treaty of Tientsin in 1858. Yu Shan had already been labeled as "Mt Morrison" on variety of charts derived from surveys before 1855. For examples, chart of "Formosa Island" published by British Royal Navy in 1845, which was based on British Royal Naval hydrographic surveys by Admiral Sir Richard Collinson in 1841-1845 (the first modern survey of Taiwan east coast) ; "Chart of the Coast of China" derived from the same surveys commercial printed in 1855; "The Island of Formosa" map of Taiwan was based on a draft made by Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the U.S. Navy in 1854, which was based on the previous Sir Collinson's surveys, attached in the book of the records of the expedition to Japan "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan" p572-573.

"It was previously..." can be mistakenly thought to be "earlier than Qing dynasty" in this statement. It is suggested to be replaced by "during the later half of 19th century".

Yu Shan is the sacred mountain of Tsou and Bunun people. In the peoples sagas, on the summit the origin of the peoples took place, and the last refuge where the last fire tinder was preserved for the peoples escaped from the great flood.

In Tsou and Bunun saga, before the days Yu Shan being the hunting fields of Tsou and Bunun, there were Salutsu people (a mythical little black people, maybe related to Negrito) occupied in north of Yu Shan. In prehistorical times, Yu Shan was exclusive hunting fields of Tsou and Bunun peoples. Access was very unlikely for outsiders to the lands of head-hunting peoples.

In Qing era, in the aftermath of Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874), the Taiwan aborigine policy was changed to "opening mountains and colonizing savages" (zh-TW:開山撫番) in which 3 Trans-Taiwan trails were constructed: the north, middle, and south trails. The middle trail, today referred as Patungkuan Ancient Trail, started from the west end Zhushan,_Nantou, bypassing Patungkuan, east of Yu Shan area, crossing over 3000 meters high divide ridge of Taiwan, to the east end Yuli, Hualien was completed in 1875. Thanks to the trail, access to Yu Shan area for outsiders was then not improbable.

In "History" section the statement "Under the Japanese, the anthropologists Torii Ryūzō and Ushinosuke Mori became the first people recorded to summit the mountain in 1900. In 1900, during Japanese rule, two Japanese anthropologists, became the first people to have been recorded ascending the mountain. They gave it the name 'Mount Niitaka'" The "who" and "when" of naming as "Niitakayama" are incorrect in the statement.

Earlier than the said "first summit" in 1900, the name of Yu Shan had already been changed to "Niitakayama" (Kanji: "", meaning "new high mountain") by the imperial decree of Japanese Emperor Meiji on Jun 28, 1897, after the elevation of Yu Shan was confirmed higher than that of Fujiyama by Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office Land Survey Department (ja:陸地測量部) in Jul 1895-Sep 1896.

The first (non-aborigine) people recorded to ("civilized") summit the mountain were Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office lieutenant Nagano Yoshitora and 2 aborigine guides during the land survey in Jul 1895-Sep 1896 on Sep 28 1896. Nagano's summit was not recognized among Japanese mountaineer communities at that time due to his expedition report to summit being suspicious.

2 months later, Saito Otosaku, the director of Zhushan,_Nantou Colonial Reclamation Agency (zh-TW:撫墾署), and 2 Dongpu tribe Vonum guides reported to summit on Nov 21 1896.

However, 2 years later, German explorer Dr Karl Theodor Stöpel reported that in the way to summit, he found Saito's Japanese flag and pole under a rock on the east summit (much more technical difficult than the main summit) but not on the main summit. Dr Karl Theodor Stöpel and 2 Tumpu tribe Vonum guides Husung and Biung (the same guides of Saito's summit) are generally recognized to be the first (non-aborigine) people recorded to summit on Dec 26 1898.